A couple of months ago, when Chunsoft declared its intentions to return to the publishing business with Shiren the Wanderer 5, CEO Koichi Nakamura said that the studio also had an original DS zombie game in development. It seemed at the time that he was joking, but... well take a look at the characters in Chunsoft's new game:

Famitsu.com provided a first look today at " Zombie Daisuki," or "Love Zombie," to go along with coverage in its print counterpart.

Love Zombie starts off on a farm. Some baddies attacked the farm and spread a gas which turned all the residents into zombie. You'll have to take control of the zombies, leading them to the nearby town to strike back against the bad humans and to ultimately take back something important that was taken from them.

The game's genre is listed as action, but you don't directly control the zombies. Instead, you issue directives to groups of zombies. Using the stylus, you can draw a line to make the zombies move in a particular direction. Or, you can first draw a circle to select a subset of zombies, then direct them in certain ways. If you want all the zombies to gather in a particular location, you press down on one spot on the screen.

The zombies automatically attack when they see a baddie. Here are some examples of the game's enemies:

You may not always be able to control your zombies, though. Zombies love meat, so when the see meat sitting around in a stage, they'll head towards it. They also love cute animals. If they see an animal, they'll stop attacking and a heart icon will appear above them.

Each stage has a particular objective. Some require that you defeat all your foes, others require that you find a particular item. Stage terrain varies, spanning shopping centers, a film studio, and a wilderness area.

When they're not attacking town, the zombies reside on the farm, free to roam about as they please. You'll have to build up your forces here. While in town, you collect seeds which your zombies will use on the farm to plant a variety of "plants." These will grow into things like pudding and clothing, all of which have different effects on your zombies' parameters. The farm also has a special "skill garden" area where you can go to train your zombies with convenient skills.

You'll also be able to recruit new zombie troops. After clearing a stage, new zombies may be born and could become your allies.

Love Zombie is due for release in January 2011, making it Chunsoft's second release following Shiren.